Microbiology spectrum最新文献

{"title":"Integrated and high-throughput method to collect, store, recover, and manage microbial isolates in mini-arrays.","authors":"Moon H Nahm","doi":"10.1128/spectrum.02637-24","DOIUrl":"10.1128/spectrum.02637-24","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Clinical studies of vaccines generally require collections of microbial isolates obtained from various body sites over multiple years. Further, large microbe collections are needed for research due to increasing appreciation for the phenotypic and genotypic diversity among a single microbial species. However, large collections are not generally available due to method limitations. We show a new way to create, recover, and manage microbe collections in 96- or 384-well plates using 50% glycerol at -20°C. Fifty percent glycerol remains liquid at -20°C and permits only the chosen isolates to be reliably sampled without first thawing all other isolates in the plate. Consequently, the glycerol sampling allows integration of microbe collection, labeling, recovery, and storage steps. Creating a microbe collection as an array in microplates reduces physical storage space by 6- or 23-fold with 96-well or 384-well plates, respectively. The array permits direct analysis of the collection with high-throughput assay systems. Further, we show that <i>Streptococcus pneumoniae</i> could be stored for 11 years as a microplate array. Standardized microbe arrays created in microplates with the new method could be easily distributed for studies of microbial structures, genetic diversity, antibiotics, and microbe-host interactions. This integrated method suggests how automated microbe management systems can be created.IMPORTANCEEpidemiologic and microbiology studies require large microbial collections, and the use of microplates could facilitate the creation and management of these collections. However, recovering individual isolates from microplates is manual and tedious. In this study, we demonstrate a simple method for recovering a selected individual isolate from a microplate at -20°C using 50% glycerol. Additionally, we found that <i>Streptococcus pneumoniae</i> could be revived for more than 10 years in microplates. This new method of recovering microbes from frozen microplates could greatly streamline many large-scale epidemiologic studies, particularly those related to pneumococcal vaccine studies. This new method may ultimately automate the collection, management, and storage of microbial isolates.</p>","PeriodicalId":18670,"journal":{"name":"Microbiology spectrum","volume":" ","pages":"e0263724"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143542564","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The sensor histidine kinase PhcS participates in the regulation of quorum sensing-dependent virulence genes in <i>Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum</i> strain OE1-1.","authors":"Wakana Senuma, Masayuki Tsuzuki, Chika Takemura, Yuki Terazawa, Akinori Kiba, Kouhei Ohnishi, Kenji Kai, Yasufumi Hikichi","doi":"10.1128/spectrum.00059-25","DOIUrl":"10.1128/spectrum.00059-25","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><i>Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum</i> strain OE1-1 secretes methyl 3-hydroxymyristate (3-OH MAME) as a quorum-sensing (QS) signal. Strain OE1-1 senses the chemical by the sensor histidine kinase PhcS, leading to the activation of the LysR family transcriptional regulator PhcA. The activated PhcA controls the expression of QS-dependent genes responsible for QS-regulated phenotypes including virulence. The autophosphorylation of the histidine at amino acid position 230 (H230-PhcS) in PhcS following the 3-OH MAME sensing is required for the PhcA activation. The alternative sensor histidine kinase PhcK is involved in the regulation of <i>phcA</i>, which is independent of 3-OH MAME sensing. Furthermore, the H230Q-PhcS substitution of H230-PhcS with glutamine significantly decreases <i>phcA</i> expression. However, how PhcK and PhcS regulate <i>phcA</i> expression remains unclear. To elucidate the mechanisms of the <i>phcA</i> regulation, we generated a <i>phcK</i> mutant with the H205Q-PhcK substitution of autophosphorylated histidine at amino acid position 205 of PhcK with glutamine. A transcriptome analysis using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction assay and RNA sequencing showed that the H230Q-PhcS substitution, but not the H205Q-PhcK substitution, significantly decreased the expression level of <i>phcA</i>. The H230Q-PhcS substitution led to significant changes in the expression levels of QS-dependent genes and a loss of virulence, similar to <i>phcA</i> or <i>phcK</i> deletion. It is thus thought that PhcS participates in not only the 3-OH MAME sensing-independently PhcK-mediated regulation of <i>phcA</i> but also the PhcA activation following 3-OH MAME sensing. Both functions of PhcS are significantly influenced by the autophosphorylation of H230-PhcS.</p><p><strong>Importance: </strong>The soil-borne <i>Ralstonia solanacearum</i> species complex (RSSC) infects more than 300 plant species in over 50 families, including solanaceous plants, causing the devastating wilt disease that substantially decreases agricultural production worldwide. The cell density-dependent gene regulation system, QS, is required for RSSC virulence and involves two signaling pathways for the induction and activation of PhcA, which is the master transcriptional regulator in QS. In the present study, we describe the contribution of sensor histidine kinase PhcS to the PhcA induction, along with the alternative sensor kinase PhcK, independently of the sensing of QS signal methyl 3-hydroxymyristate in a phylotype I strain of RSSC, <i>R. pseudosolanacearum</i> strain OE1-1. This study further expands our knowledge of multiple networks, suggesting that several PhcS-mediated two-component systems are likely necessary for RSSC QS and virulence.</p>","PeriodicalId":18670,"journal":{"name":"Microbiology spectrum","volume":" ","pages":"e0005925"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143542577","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Rapid detection of β-lactamase activity using the rapid Amp NP test.","authors":"Patrice Nordmann, Nicolas Helsens, Nicolas Kieffer, Camille Tinguely, Gilbert Greub, Laurent Poirel","doi":"10.1128/spectrum.00782-24","DOIUrl":"10.1128/spectrum.00782-24","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most common bacterial infections in humans. They are mainly caused by <i>Escherichia coli</i> and other Enterobacterales for which increasing resistance to antibiotics and in particular to β-lactams is extensively reported. The detection of β-lactam resistance phenotypes is currently time-consuming (18 h). Hence, most treatments are given without any results of antibiotic susceptibility testing and may involve broad-spectrum antibiotics. A biochemical diagnostic test has been developed to rapidly evaluate the production of β-lactamases (and consequently the β-lactam resistance) from cultures (10⁴ and 10⁵ CFU/mL) of Gram-positive and Gram-negative isolates representative of bacterial species as a source of UTIs (<i>n</i> = 112). It relies on a centrifugation step after a 90 min preliminary culture and the detection of β-lactamase activity with nitrocefin as substrate using a special filter. Overall, the test gave a positive result for 87.6% of the tested resistant strains with a bacterial load of 10⁵ CFU/mL, and a positive result for 100% of tested extended-spectrum β-lactamases and for carbapenemase producers at the same load. This cost-effective test can be performed in any laboratory and ultimately shall be tested at the patient side and at the general practitioner. Its turn-around-time to get results is less than 2 h. After further improvements, the results obtained with this proof-of-concept test suggest that its use may contribute to rapidly guide the treatment of non-complicated UTIs and, therefore, limit the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics and the emergence of antibiotic resistance.</p><p><strong>Importance: </strong>This work reports on a totally novel diagnostic technique, the Rapid Amp NP test for the identification of amoxicillin/ampicillin resistance in bacteria that are sources of non-complicated urinary tract infections. Those preliminary results obtained with cultured bacteria are promising. We believe its future use may contribute to reconsider aminopenicillins as a first line therapy for treating UTI infections. The corresponding patent of this test obtained both for the United States and Europe may contribute to its further industrialization.</p>","PeriodicalId":18670,"journal":{"name":"Microbiology spectrum","volume":" ","pages":"e0078224"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143567593","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Disrupting the balance: how acne duration impacts skin microbiota assembly processes.","authors":"Lang Sun, Qingqun Wang, Jing Huang, Huan Wang, Zheng Yu","doi":"10.1128/spectrum.02603-24","DOIUrl":"10.1128/spectrum.02603-24","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Growing interest in the impact of microbial balance on health has driven studies on the ecological processes shaping the skin microbiota. Skin diseases, which alter the skin's local environment, can disrupt the microbial structure and interact with the disease itself. However, research on microbial assembly in diseased skin remains limited. In this study, we applied ecological models to characterize the processes shaping the skin microbiota in acne patients, considering the impact of disease duration on both skin pores and surfaces using bacterial amplicon sequencing. Our results revealed a significant shift in microbial diversity on the skin surface of patients with long-term acne. Further microbial community analyses showed a transition in ecological processes from healthy to diseased skin. Microbial communities on the skin surfaces of healthy controls and individuals with short-duration acne were primarily driven by heterogeneous selection, whereas microbial drift dominated the assembly process in the long-duration groups. Using the Sloan neutral model, we classified amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) into high-effect and low-effect groups based on relative abundance and sample occurrence. High-effect ASVs, likely exerting a greater ecological influence, were predominantly represented by <i>Cutibacterium</i> across all acne-affected skin groups, while <i>Staphylococcus</i> became enriched among high-effect ASVs in patients with long-term acne. Functional profiling further demonstrated that high-effect ASVs were significantly enriched in motility-related pathways. Additionally, we observed a reduction in microbial network complexity on skin surfaces as disease duration increased. Overall, the ecological dynamics of skin microbial communities may offer valuable insights into the mechanisms underlying disease onset and persistence.IMPORTANCEThe skin microbiota plays a critical role in acne development, yet the processes governing microbial assembly during acne progression remain poorly understood. Previous studies predominantly focused on factors such as acne severity, location, and duration in relation to skin microbial structure, with little attention given to the ecological mechanisms shaping the communities. In this study, we applied ecological models to investigate the processes influencing microbial assembly of skin microbiota in acne patients with varying disease durations and examined functions of ecologically important non-neutral amplicon sequence variants (ASVs). Our findings reveal a transition in ecological processes from deterministic to neutral processes as acne duration increased, with non-neutral ASVs potentially contributing to acne pathogenicity and persistence. These insights contribute to a deeper understanding of the ecological dynamics underlying acne and indicate that targeting these non-neutral ASVs or their associated functions may serve as the basis for future therapeutic strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":18670,"journal":{"name":"Microbiology spectrum","volume":" ","pages":"e0260324"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143483195","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comparative analysis of esophageal gland microbes between two body sizes of <i>Gigantopelta aegis</i>, a hydrothermal snail from the Southwest Indian Ridge.","authors":"Anning Mou, Xinlong Li, Zhong Li, Lingyun Qu, Yue Dong, Zongling Wang, Xuelei Zhang, Qinzeng Xu","doi":"10.1128/spectrum.02959-24","DOIUrl":"10.1128/spectrum.02959-24","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Microbial communities within animals provide nutritional foundation and energy supply for the hydrothermal ecosystem. The peltospirid snail &lt;i&gt;Gigantopelta aegis&lt;/i&gt; forms large aggregation in the Longqi vent field on the Southwest Indian Ridge. This endemic species is characterized by a changeable diet and morphology, especially reflected in internal organs such as remarkably enlarged esophageal glands. Here, 16S full-length rRNA gene analysis was performed to compare the variations in esophageal gland microbiota between two body size groups (small and large) of &lt;i&gt;G. aegis&lt;/i&gt;. Phyla Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes were the dominant featured bacteria contributing to the microbial community. No significant differences between the small and large groups were revealed by the diversity index and principal component analysis (PCA) clustering. The differences were in the relative abundance of bacteria. Compared with small-sized snails, the larger ones housed more &lt;i&gt;Thiogranum&lt;/i&gt; (9.94% to 34.86%) and fewer &lt;i&gt;Sediminibacterium&lt;/i&gt; (29.38% to 4.54%). Functional prediction for all of the microbiota showed that the pathways related to metabolism appeared highly abundant in smaller &lt;i&gt;G. aegis&lt;/i&gt;. However, for the larger ones, the most distinctive pathways were those of environmental information processing. Facultative symbiotic &lt;i&gt;Sulfurovum&lt;/i&gt; was marked as a core node in the co-occurrence network and suggested an influence on habitat selection of &lt;i&gt;G. aegis&lt;/i&gt; in hydrothermal fields. In summary, variations in bacteria composition and potential functions possibly reflected changes in the anatomical structure and dietary habits of &lt;i&gt;G. aegis&lt;/i&gt;. These dominant bacteria shared capabilities in nutritional supplementation and ecological niche expansion in the host, potentially a key adaptation for hydrothermal survival.IMPORTANCEDominant in the Longqi hydrothermal vent Southwest Indian Ridge, &lt;i&gt;Gigantopelta aegis&lt;/i&gt; was observed to undergo unique and significant morphological changes and diet shifts known as cryptometamorphosis. During this process, &lt;i&gt;G. aegis&lt;/i&gt; developed a specialized bacteria-housing organ, the esophageal gland, in the later life stages. Our research discovered variations in esophageal gland microbes between different body size groups of snails. These bacteria were closely related to the development and health of &lt;i&gt;G. aegis&lt;/i&gt;. Full-length 16S rRNA gene analysis revealed more &lt;i&gt;Thiogranum&lt;/i&gt; and fewer &lt;i&gt;Sediminibacterium&lt;/i&gt;, suggesting a potential association with environmental adaptation. In the small-sized group, the potential functions were enriched in metabolism, while in larger &lt;i&gt;G. aegis&lt;/i&gt; individuals, predictions indicated adaptive functions such as environmental information processing. Also, symbiotic &lt;i&gt;Sulfurovum&lt;/i&gt; could be one of the factors influencing the habitat selection of &lt;i&gt;G. aegis&lt;/i&gt;. Understanding the complex relationship between benthic macrofauna and microbes helps us describe the me","PeriodicalId":18670,"journal":{"name":"Microbiology spectrum","volume":" ","pages":"e0295924"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143483706","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Analyses of hyphal diversity in Trichosporonales yeasts based on fluorescent microscopic observations.","authors":"Keita Aoki, Moriya Ohkuma, Takashi Sugita, Yuuki Kobayashi, Naoto Tanaka, Masako Takashima","doi":"10.1128/spectrum.03210-24","DOIUrl":"10.1128/spectrum.03210-24","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In dimorphic yeasts, hyphal growth is primarily associated with infection and mycosis progression, with &lt;i&gt;Trichosporon asahii&lt;/i&gt; causing deep-seated mycosis and summer-type hypersensitivity pneumonitis. Magnesium accelerates hyphal growth in &lt;i&gt;T. asahii&lt;/i&gt;, leading to multi-septation, vacuolar expansion, and decreased lipid droplet size. However, the commonality of these phenotypes has not been studied in Trichosporonales yeasts. Therefore, to explore whether similar magnesium-induced phenotypes occur across Trichosporonales yeasts, we examined hyphal growth, multi-septation, vacuolar extension, and lipid droplet size and number in 30 species. Cell length increased with magnesium treatment in 13 yeasts: 5 &lt;i&gt;Trichosporon&lt;/i&gt; (&lt;i&gt;T. asahii&lt;/i&gt;, &lt;i&gt;Trichosporon aquatile&lt;/i&gt;, &lt;i&gt;Trichosporon asteroides&lt;/i&gt;, &lt;i&gt;Trichosporon coremiiforme&lt;/i&gt;, and &lt;i&gt;Trichosporon ovoides&lt;/i&gt;), three &lt;i&gt;Apiotrichum&lt;/i&gt; (&lt;i&gt;Apiotrichum brassicae&lt;/i&gt;, &lt;i&gt;Apiotrichum montevideense&lt;/i&gt;, and &lt;i&gt;Apiotrichum veenhuisii&lt;/i&gt;), three &lt;i&gt;Cutaneotrichosporon&lt;/i&gt; (&lt;i&gt;Cutaneotrichosporon cavernicola&lt;/i&gt;, &lt;i&gt;Cutaneotrichosporon cutaneum&lt;/i&gt;, and &lt;i&gt;Cutaneotrichosporon dermatis&lt;/i&gt;), &lt;i&gt;Pascua guehoae&lt;/i&gt;, and &lt;i&gt;Takashimella koratensis. C. dermatis&lt;/i&gt; also underwent pseudo-hyphal growth. Multi-septation increased in seven dimorphic yeasts, including five &lt;i&gt;Trichosporon&lt;/i&gt; spp., &lt;i&gt;Trichosporon faecale&lt;/i&gt;, and &lt;i&gt;C. dermatis&lt;/i&gt;. The vacuolar area was significantly extended in &lt;i&gt;T. asahii&lt;/i&gt;, &lt;i&gt;T. aquatile&lt;/i&gt;, &lt;i&gt;T. ovoides&lt;/i&gt;, and &lt;i&gt;C. dermatis&lt;/i&gt;. Lipid droplet size increased only in &lt;i&gt;Trichosporon inkin&lt;/i&gt;; however, it decreased in &lt;i&gt;T. asahii&lt;/i&gt;, &lt;i&gt;T. coremiiforme&lt;/i&gt;, and &lt;i&gt;T. faecale&lt;/i&gt;. Additionally, lipid droplet number was preferentially altered in &lt;i&gt;Apiotrichum&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;Cutaneotrichosporon&lt;/i&gt;. These results suggested that magnesium-induced multi-septation and vacuolar area expansion phenotypically distinguish &lt;i&gt;Trichosporon&lt;/i&gt; hyphae from &lt;i&gt;Apiotrichum&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;Cutaneotrichosporon&lt;/i&gt; hyphae and distinguish &lt;i&gt;C. dermatis&lt;/i&gt; pseudo-hyphae from &lt;i&gt;Cutaneotrichosporon&lt;/i&gt; spp. Moreover, differences in lipid droplet size can discriminate species within &lt;i&gt;Trichosporon&lt;/i&gt;. Our results suggest that phenotypic alteration via magnesium treatment can contribute to the characterization of Trichosporonales yeasts. These findings provide insights into fungal pathogenesis and may support new treatment strategies.IMPORTANCEMagnesium sulfate considerably affects hyphal growth and cellular organization in &lt;i&gt;Trichosporon asahii&lt;/i&gt;. To examine the commonality of this phenotype in Trichosporonales, we treated 30 Trichosporonales yeasts with magnesium sulfate and observed genus-level phenotypic alterations. Using cell length measurement, lipid droplet staining, septum staining, and vacuole staining, considerable hyphal diversity was observed among Trichosporonales. Notably, differences in the multi-septation phenotype and vacuolar size distinguished &lt;i&gt;T","PeriodicalId":18670,"journal":{"name":"Microbiology spectrum","volume":" ","pages":"e0321024"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143492950","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Erratum for Mann et al., \"Heterogeneous lineage-specific arginine deiminase expression within dental microbiome species\".","authors":"Allison E Mann, Brinta Chakraborty, Lauren M O'Connell, Marcelle M Nascimento, Robert A Burne, Vincent P Richards","doi":"10.1128/spectrum.00347-25","DOIUrl":"10.1128/spectrum.00347-25","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":18670,"journal":{"name":"Microbiology spectrum","volume":" ","pages":"e0034725"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143516083","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"<i>In vitro</i> activities of lipopeptides against fluconazole-resistant <i>Candida auris</i>.","authors":"Simona Fioriti, Francesco Pallotta, Gloria D'Achille, Oscar Cirioni, Oriana Simonetti, Damian Neubauer, Elzbieta Kamysz, Wojciech Kamysz, Lucia Brescini, Sara Caucci, Giuseppina Caggiano, Andrea Giacometti, Gianluca Morroni, Francesco Barchiesi","doi":"10.1128/spectrum.01786-24","DOIUrl":"10.1128/spectrum.01786-24","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><i>Candida auris</i> has increasingly become a global threat due to its wide range of antifungal resistances as well as its ability to sustain outbreaks in clinical settings. Two lipopeptides, C14-NleRR-NH₂ (Nel) and C14-WRR-NH₂ (WR), were evaluated against six fluconazole-resistant <i>C. auris</i> isolates. Both molecules showed good antimicrobial activity as demonstrated by MIC determination, time-kill, and microscopy experiments. The peptides were able to inhibit fungal growth, while sub-MIC concentrations of the molecules delayed the growth. Moreover, the combinations of the two peptides with fluconazole demonstrated a reciprocal potentiation by checkerboard and time-kill experiments. Our results showed that antimicrobial peptides could be a promising option for the treatment of antifungal-resistant <i>C. auris</i>.IMPORTANCEAs well as antibiotics, also in fungal infections, antimicrobial resistance increased over the years. Moreover, in the last years, a new species emerged, <i>Candida auris</i>, as a nosocomial pathogen. <i>C. auris</i> possesses intrinsic resistance to common antifungals, such as azoles, that complicate therapeutic options. The combination of these two elements poses a risk for the treatment of fungal infections in the next years. The search for novel compounds with antimicrobial properties is crucial for the treatment of infections to overcome the increasing resistance of these etiological agents.</p>","PeriodicalId":18670,"journal":{"name":"Microbiology spectrum","volume":" ","pages":"e0178624"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143516119","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Capsiate attenuates atherosclerosis by activating Nrf2/GPX4 pathway and reshaping the intestinal microbiota in ApoE^-/- mice.","authors":"Yongbin Shen, Chuanqi Zhang, Xue Jiang, Xianwei Li, Bo Chen, Weiliang Jiang","doi":"10.1128/spectrum.03155-24","DOIUrl":"10.1128/spectrum.03155-24","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Atherosclerosis (AS) is the basis of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and remains the major contributor to death worldwide. Capsiate is derived from sweet pepper fruit and exhibits numerous pharmacological activities. The objective of this study was to elucidate the protective role of capsiate in atherosclerosis by examining its effect and the underlying regulatory pathways. Here, we showed that capsiate treatment alleviates atherosclerosis in atherosclerosis-prone apolipoprotein E-deficient (ApoE&lt;sup&gt;-/-&lt;/sup&gt;) mice. We found that capsiate effectively reduced the plaque area and body weight compared to the Model group. Capsiate inhibited inflammatory response by downregulating phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein kinase B/nuclear factor-κB pathway. Additionally, further investigation indicated that capsiate could regulate lipid levels in mice via reducing the expressions of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase and low-density lipoprotein receptor, and increasing the expression of recombinant cytochrome P450 7A1. Furthermore, capsiate effectively activated transient receptor potential vanilloid subfamily member 1 in ApoE&lt;sup&gt;-/-&lt;/sup&gt; mice fed a high-fat diet. The microbial sequencing demonstrated capsiate administration significantly regulated the gut microbiota disturbance and increased some beneficial bacterial (&lt;i&gt;Lachnospiraceae NK4A136&lt;/i&gt; group) levels in ApoE&lt;sup&gt;-/-&lt;/sup&gt; mice. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were exposed to oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) to stimulate atherosclerotic endothelial damage &lt;i&gt;in vitro&lt;/i&gt;. Our study revealed that capsiate inhibited ox-LDL-induced HUVECs injury and inflammation. We further investigated the effects of capsiate on ferroptosis &lt;i&gt;in vivo&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;in vitro&lt;/i&gt;; it was found that capsiate exhibited anti-ferroptosis through regulating nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2/glutathione peroxidase 4 pathway. Interestingly, ML385 reversed the anti-ferroptosis effect of capsiate in HUVECs. Taken together, our findings suggest a promising use of small-molecule drug capsiate for the treatment of AS and related CVDs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Importance: &lt;/strong&gt;Capsiate has been found to inhibit fat accumulation, promote energy metabolism, and exhibit anti-inflammatory and antioxidative properties. However, there has still been no study on the ferroptosis and gut microbiota of capsiate in atherosclerosis (AS) mouse models. Our study is the first to report on the reshaping of the structure of the gut microbiota by capsiate in AS, and to explore the potential mechanism underlying the improvement of AS. In this study, we demonstrated that capsiate could effectively alleviate high-fat diet-induced AS in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice by inhibiting inflammatory response, improving serum lipid profiles, activating transient receptor potential vanilloid subfamily member 1 pathway, and suppressing ferroptosis. Moreover, the study reported the potential of gut microbiota as med","PeriodicalId":18670,"journal":{"name":"Microbiology spectrum","volume":" ","pages":"e0315524"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143542559","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Outer membrane permeability of <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> through β-lactams: new evidence on the role of OprD and OpdP porins in antibiotic resistance.","authors":"Francesco Amisano, Paola Mercuri, Steven Fanara, Olivier Verlaine, Patrick Motte, Jean Marie Frère, Marc Hanikenne, Moreno Galleni","doi":"10.1128/spectrum.00495-24","DOIUrl":"10.1128/spectrum.00495-24","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Gram-negative bacteria are a major concern for public health, particularly due to the continuous rise of antibiotic resistance. A major factor that helps the development of resistance is the outer membrane that is essential since it acts as a strong permeability barrier to many antibiotics that are effective against other bacteria. In this study, we determine the specific permeability coefficients for various antibiotics in <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> strains, which differ from each other for their porin expressions. We showed that OprD and OpdP porins contribute both to internalize meropenem and biapenem. Using qRT-PCR, we demonstrated that their expression is dependent of the various phases of cellular growth. We were able to show how the OpdP porin is less expressed in exponential growth phases, while it tends to be produced when the bacterial culture enters into the latent phase, in an inversely proportional way compared to the OprD porin. The deletion of the OpdP porin, in the presence of meropenem at concentrations equivalent to the MIC values, contributes to the selection of carbapenem-resistant strains. Therefore, the presence of mutations/deletions of the OpdP porin should receive greater consideration from a clinical point of view as the use of meropenem at nonoptimal concentrations could lead to the appearance of resistance phenotypes.IMPORTANCECarbapenem-resistant strains of <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> are among the major threats to public health. The permeability of the outer membrane for the β-lactam antibiotics is one of the major factors that reduce the activity of the antibiotics. In this study, we measure the low permeability coefficient of the <i>P. aeruginosa</i> outer membrane to β-lactams. The methodology we develop to determine the permeability can be applied to other antibiotic families and/or pathogens.</p>","PeriodicalId":18670,"journal":{"name":"Microbiology spectrum","volume":" ","pages":"e0049524"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143542566","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}